A Butterbeer and A Smoky Room

[Professor Alex Goth]

"Na I'm OK." he said, as she was gone he closed his eyes for a few seconds, and the world around him became silent. It felt good, but he then opened his eyes seeing that not to much time had gone by.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac studied the professor for a second, then shrugged and said, "suit yourself." She came back a few minutes later with a full decanter of Butterbeer. She set it down on the table and took her seat again. "So, professor," she said after taking a sip, "what brought you to Hogwarts?"

[Professor Alex Goth]

"I guess when I got asked I couldn't help but accept. I've never taught in a classroom, so it's weird but I don't regret teaching here." he said, pausing. "I also wanted to see the campus, it's beautiful." he added partly joking and partly not.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac nodded. "The castle really is beautiful," she said wistfully, "you should see it covered in snow." She laughed at the memory of sitting by the window with Sophie while it was snowing and just watching it fall. It had been such a cold day and they both had their blankets wrapped around them. She sipped her butterbeer and smiled at the Professor.

[Professor Alex Goth]

"You know snow is so great, I remember living in places where it didn't snow and I was sad. I guess it is one of the only things that remains pure." he said, he always moved around, to America, Australia and other places.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac didn't lift the decanter when she drank from it. She stuck her whole face in and pursed her lips to reach the shimmering bronze liquid inside. She looked up at the professor and said frowning, "I can't imagine a white Christmas without the white." It was the best thing about the snow, it meant Christmas.

[Professor Alex Goth]

"Well, at first I didn't really care. Then I remembered all the fun times I had in the snow, and that's when I began to miss it." he said remembering the Christmas song 'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.' "So wait every Christmas you've had snow?" he asked taking a second to think, "Lucky" he added sarcastically.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac nodded enthusiastically. "I love snow," she said excitedly, "and it's the best having snow ball fights with my family coz we're so many and it's just great! Grace always thought we were weird for having such militaristic snow ball fights but as soon as she got into it," Jac sighed, "it's a blast." She smiled at the professor, almost feeling sorry for him but feeling too happy to linger on that too much.

[Professor Alex Goth]

"Wow, so winter must be your favorite season?" he asked knowing it probably was. His was summer only because it was hot and if your lucky you can swim, but winter would have to be his 2nd favorite because when he lived in places that snowed he loved it.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac smiled at the professor and shook her head. "It's not," she said smiling knowingly. She took a sip of her butterbeer and then explained, "autumn is my favourite season. It's all the pretty colours. The warm shades that give me very good ideas about ..." she looked up at her fringe that was hanging over her right eyebrow and it turned a rust red colour. She had seen that colour on a leaf and had thought it was beautiful. Her hair was now streaked with autumn colours, warm reds, oranges and browns.

[Professor Alex Goth]

"You know, that's cool." he said smiling. "Spring and Autumn I like because at the end of Spring it is warm and and the beginning of Autumn it is still warm. I also like Autumn because of the leaves, but some types of trees stay green. So where I lived you could always find green trees mixed with the red, yellow and brown ones." he said remembering when he was a little kid how he would ask his mother why some trees stayed green and others didn't.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac grinned. Evergreen trees always looked shaggy to Jac but she didn't say so. She sipped her butterbeer again, set the large mug down and didn't realised she had a foam moustache. "So, Professor," she said, "tell me, where have you travelled?" She very much wanted to travel but where to was always the big question.

[Professor Alex Goth]

"Foam mustache," he said trying not to laugh, but he almost did because it looked funny. "I've lived in Sydney, Australia, Mexico, and New York and California. I've also been to places for only a few days, like Africa and China." he also said remembering hot it was in Africa. "Have you ever been to anywhere else?" he asked because he knew that most people here haven't.

[Jac Shaw]

Jac blushed red to match her autumn coloured hair. She quickly wiped away the moustache with a little giggle. Glad that the professor answered her question without being too distracted by her blunder, Jac did the same. She smiled when she answered the professor's question. "Father took me to Spain once," she said, a laugh hiding in her words, "for a few days while he was there on business. It was beautiful there. I wanted to stay longer but ..." she shrugged.

[Professor Alex Goth]

"Oh, I really traveled a lot because of my grandmother, when I was young she traveled to Spain and got me a present from there. She gave me one of those Spanish drums, the ones made from the ceramic pots and corn husk. She traveled everywhere, just about." he said smiling because he remembered that it would of been her birthday soon.